ABSTRACT

Technical systems manifest a set of qualities in terms of predictability, an aspect that has been strengthened thanks to technical evolution. For a technical-dominant mentality, predictability makes the technical system the organizational model of choice. The ability for learning of a technical system has developed thanks to a strong technological development. Nevertheless, complexity grows as new abilities are added and, for air safety, the hyper complexity phase may have been reached, with its associated effects. A ratio of accidents that today seems acceptable, in view of the extensive use that is made of air transportation, may not be so in the future. The exclusion of the user in the debate on safety is an important element in the configuration of the current learning model. Its political use together with the absence of truthful information led to swings derived more from temporary political positions than from objective demands in the field of safety.